Resettled families in Valikaamam North lack infrastructure facilities

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 March 2011, 10:23 GMT]Unless infrastructure facilities are made available to the people, the resettlement could take place only at snail’s pace in Jaffna peninsula, Thellippazhai Divisional Secretary S.Muralitharan responded to reporters who questioned him on the restrictions prevailing there. Currently, the occupying Sri Lankan military is limiting the freedom of movement of civilians to their native villages by keeping the access roads to resettlement areas closed most of the time and is only allowing them to use the roads for few days in a week.

Uprooted Tamils from the villages in Valikaamam North question why the SL government officers were not addressing their immediate needs on infrastructure. They had been allowed to resettle in the High Security Zone around Keerimalai Nakuleasvarar temple couple of months ago, but the roads opened for the purpose were closed within a fortnight causing severe hardships to them.

While they had to walk several kilometers to reach their settlements, the SL military maintained that the roads were opened only for the purpose of temple use.

Due to the sand barriers placed on the middle of the roads by the SL military for purported security reasons even the normal movement of the people are curtailed.

Paruththith-thu'rai Maruthangkea'ni road in Vadamaraadchchi East has been closed by the SL military after being opened for few days when resettlement took place.

People are forced to take a circuitous route via A9 and Maruthangkea'ni roads to reach Vadamaraadchi East and it their villages are isolated from the rest of the Jaffna Peninsula due to this action of the occupying military.